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Audience: The gift of fortitude

14/05/2014

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(Vatican Radio) “Let us thank the Lord for these Christians who are the hidden saints
among us”, said Pope Francis Wednesday “ordinary, everyday people who carry on their
lives and faith, who fight for their families and educate their children”, despite
the difficulties that life can sometimes present them with. These are people who open
their hearts to the Holy Spirit who fills them with the gift of fortitude, the strength
to carry on. Emer McCarthy reports:

Continuing his series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Wednesday, Pope
Francis spoke of the gift of fortitude in times of trail. Tens of thousands of pilgrims
and visitors had queued since dawn outside St. Peter's Square to attend the audience.
Despite a strong and chill wind, the Pope spent over half an hour touring among them
in his open topped jeep, blessing children greeting the elderly, embracing the sick.

A Gospel passage was proclaimed in the main languages, before the Holy Father
began his catechesis in Italian.

Below please find a Vatican Radio transcript
and translation of the Holy Father’s catechesis

Dear brothers and
sisters !In recent catechesis, we examined the first three gifts of the Holy Spirit:
wisdom, understanding and counsel. Today we think about what the Lord does, He always
comes to support us in our weakness with a special gift, the gift of fortitude .1.
There is a parable told by Jesus, which helps us to grasp the importance of this gift.
A sower goes out to sow; not all the seed he sows, however, bears fruit. What ends
up on the street is eaten by birds; what falls on stony ground or among thorns sprouting,
but is soon dried by the sun or choked by the thorns. Only what ends up on the good
soil can grow and bear fruit (cf. Mk 4.3 to 9 / / Mt 13:3-9 / / Luke 8.4 to 8 ) .
As Jesus himself said to his disciples, the Father is the sower, who sows the seed
of His Word abundantly. The seed, however, often clashes with the aridness of our
hearts and, even when welcomed, is likely to remain sterile. Instead with the gift
of fortitude the Holy Spirit frees the soil of our heart from torpor, uncertainties
and all the fears that can stop it, so that the Word of God can be put into practice,
in an authentic and joyful way. This is a real help, this gift of fortitude it gives
us strength and frees us from many obstacles.2 . There are difficult moments and
extreme situations in which the gift of fortitude is manifested in an extraordinary,
exemplary way. This is the case of those who are facing particularly harsh and painful
experiences, that disrupt their lives and those of their loved ones. The Church shines
with the testimony of so many brothers and sisters who have not hesitated to give
their lives, in order to remain faithful to the Lord and His Gospel . Even today there
are numerous Christians in many parts of the world who continue to celebrate and witness
to their faith with deep conviction and serenity, and resist even when they know that
this can result in them paying a very high price. All of us know people, people who
have experienced difficult situations, so much pain, let us think of those men and
women who have a difficult life, who fight for the survival of their family, educate
their children. They do this because the Spirit of fortitude helps them. How many,
many men and women - whose names we do not know – honor our people, honor our Church
because they are strong in carrying forward their lives, their work, their family,
their faith – these our brothers and sisters are saints! Every day saints! Hidden
saints among us! They have the gift of fortitude in carrying on in their duty as people,
mother, father, brother, sister citizen. We have so many so many. Let us thank the
Lord for these Christians who are the hidden saints among us. But is the Spirti within
who carry them forward and it would do us good to think of these people. If they
do this, if they can do this then why not me and we ask the Lord to give us the gift
of fortitude.

3 . With this, we must not think that the gift of fortitude is
only necessary on some occasions or in certain situations. This gift must be the base
note of our being Christians, in our ordinary everyday lives. As I said we must have
fortitude in our everyday life as Christians we need this fortitude to carry on in
our lives, our families our faith. Paul, the Apostle Paul, said something that it
would do us all good to hear: "I have the strength for everything through him who
empowers me" (Phil. 4:13).

In our everyday life, in difficult times it would
do us good to say this "I have the strength for everything through him who empowers
me”. The Lord always gives us strength, Lord never gives us more than we can handle,
"I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me”.

Dear friends,
sometimes we may be tempted to allow ourselves be overtaken by laziness or despondency,
especially when faced with the hardships and trials of life. In these cases, do not
lose heart, but invoke the Holy Spirit, so that with the gift of fortitude He can
lift our hearts and communicate new vigor and enthusiasm to our lives and our following
Jesus.

Below please find the English language summary of the Holy Father’s
catechesis :

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

In our continuing
catechesis on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we now turn to the gift of fortitude.
We have seen that the first three gifts of the Spirit – wisdom, understanding and
counsel – enable us to contemplate God’s loving plan and to know his will. Through
the gift of fortitude, we receive the strength to do God’s will in spite of our own
natural weakness and limitations. In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus
teaches us that the seed of God’s word sown in our hearts can encounter not only interior
resistence, but also be choked by life’s sufferings and trials. Through the gift of
fortitude, the Holy Spirit enables us to remain faithful amid every difficulty and
– as the experience of so many Christians around the world shows – even amid persecution
and martyrdom. For most of us, the gift of fortitude is exercised in our patient pursuit
of holiness in the circumstances of our daily lives. Whenever we feel weary or discouraged
along the journey of faith, let us ask the Holy Spirit to grant us the gift of fortitude,
to refresh us and to guide our steps with renewed enthusiasm.